This is a bit Q_Q so don't give me shit. This is the stuff I feel comfortable telling the world:

I quit the Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale a few months ago. It was one of the best choices I have ever made. I greatly miss the few wonderful people I had the opportunity to befriend, but for me, the school was the equivalent of setting fire to thousands of dollars. AI might be great for someone learning a new field, or someone fresh out of high school. If you have any sort of prior knowledge or a degree above an AA, DO NOT ATTEND! It would have saved me a lot of time, money, and heartbreak if I had listened to my buddies who had also been screwed by AI in the same way.

ANYWAY, the job market in South Florida sucks, especially if you are looking for any sort of creative arts job. I decided that returning to Brooklyn to finish the few credits left of my Masters would be the logical choice. I talked to some people at Pratt and was easily re-admitted without having to fight bureaucracy. School letting you be in school? What nonsense!

I then started calling some contacts in New York City and Brooklyn. An old friend (Milt you my boy!) passed my portfolio along to an amazing design firm and landed me a solid interview. I have since been offered other positions and interviews in the NYC area. Back here, the company I work for downsized and cut my hours to 8 per week, and freelance is hard to come by when everyone fears the mighty "economy".

With all that being said, I am terrified to move back to NYC. Although living there had it's amazing high points and perks, my first experience living there alone ended terribly. I was living in a Brooklyn ghetto that January. The worst part of my life in NYC was missing my family. I am retardedly close with my family. I speak to my mom and dad every single day. I call my Nana at least once a week, and see almost everyone weekly. Moving to NYC sort of cut my umbilical cord (gross) and I experienced some sort of messed up reversed empty nest syndrome. I had a terrible boyfriend who I stuck with because he was emotionally abusive. I honestly believed that if I ever left him no one would date me again. I found it hard to make friends in that controlling environment. One day Greg (the aforementioned asshole) had packed his things and moved to Berlin (I never, to this day, saw him again) leaving me alone in an apartment with a flu.

I was going to Pratt and living totally alone for the first time. I hadn't made many friends, and the flu became pneumonia and bronchitis. I was terribly sick and was having panic attacks because I believed I was going to die alone in my empty apartment. My parents would sit on Skype with me for hours to make sure I was okay. When I went to the clinic, they immediately hooked IV's of fluids to me, and recommended I be sent to a hospital. My puppy, little Milo, was home alone so I needed to be back to him as often as possible. By the end of February, I was in a deep depression, still sick, and having debilitating panic attacks every few hours. It wasn't a hard decision to quit school and come home to my family at that point. Even thinking back on that time makes me nervous.

After coming home I was a changed girl for a couple months. I was terrified to do anything. The combination of being so sick and so utterly alone had made me hermetic and introverted. I didn't want to panic ever again. Just a few years earlier I jumped on a plane to Germany alone to backpack Europe, and now I was in my parent's house, hiding in my brother's old room playing Guitar Hero alone. I had lost hope in a big way. I connected with some old friends, like Jade Henderson, who I can never thank enough for helping me get back to my normal ridiculous self.

Once I was pretty much back to normal, Ben came back into my life. We hadn't seen each other since he was my middle school crush. We have been attached at the hip since our first date. The decision to move or not to move has been tough on both of us. Ben will have to give up school, and we both will be leaving our families and many friends here. But NY has great opportunities, and I think will be better suited to provide for our future with a Masters. The choice has been difficult on me. I have been depressed and overly stressed, and somehow have gotten the flu.

If we do stay in south Florida, Ben can finish his degree at FAU, and I might begin an online or brick and mortar business. I have a ton of details worked out that I'm not prepared to share yet. My family will be close by, which is a HUGE selling point for staying. Yet I fear that if I don't return to grad school now, I may never do it. It's hard to get back into the swing of graduate school. The study/paper mindset doesn't come overnight.

Also, I set up this little X-Mas tree today. It makes me happy :)

I still don't know which choice is the right one. I'm terrified to make the incorrect choice. I appreciate anyone who took the time to read this hot mess written up at 1:30 in the morning, but I'm unemployed so whatevs.

So there you have it. I'm scared. But I also don't accept failure as my future. Whatever happens, let's all have another taco party, ok?

When I was young, I had this crappy metal and particle board drafting table which I absolutely loved. Never mind the fact that if I had to erase anything even the least bit vigorously the table would go crazy-go-nuts and threaten to break apart. The legs were unstable, the actual board had a strange material that would send papers flying.

Ideally I would love to snag an antique drafting table from a thrift shop. Early to mid-century would be far too much to hope for, BUT I CAN DREAM! In the meantime, I will look at these pretty tables that are way over my (non-) budget.

Look at this little man. His name is Oliver and he's making my heart cry out with love. I want to kiss his little smoooshed face! (via Daily Puppy +)

Now this is hard for me to admit, but my heart is fickle and torn. Have you seen Pocket? Those little plinkers are staring deep into my soul. Apparently I have to hang out in more pumpkin patches.

And just when I thought my heart might be able to handle this affair, a third little man named Tucker waddled his little tail-less bottom into my life. He is clearly the most romantic of the bunch and the definition of a pup-tato.

The first color wheel has been attributed to someone you may not expect: Sir Issac Newton. While many of us know the old apple-on-the-head = gravity tale, we may not know the story of Newton busting out his paint set to create what is known as the first true color wheel.

Moses Harris, 1776.

Over the years scientists from every field (the example at the top was created by a man who studied butterflies; the one directly above, flies), artists, and countless theorists re-created the color wheel. The form was anything but consistent, but the circular formation we know and love today seems to have come out on top.

If you are an art student of any kind, you will likely at some point have to create a color wheel. If you are like me, you had to paint with goache, create a color wheel and, between crying and cursing the godforsaken planet you were born on, paint hundreds of swatches varying in the slightest, mind-numbing degree. But I digress.

The theory is that if you spin the color wheel fast enough, the colors will blend and appear white. I just tried spinning one of my smaller color wheels, instead of this black magic I managed to throw it behind the table at top speed. I guess it's gone forever now. ROY G BIV FOREVER!

My hair is blue again. I figured I'd give it another go. It's just great when people inform me that it's blue, because I am slow and didn't notice.

This blog is a neglected bastard child of the internets. I finally got a job as a Graphic Design Warlock at Coast to Coast Publishing. School is going well, although at 25 I'm becoming sort of an old maid on campus.

I love my dad and my step-dad Ron more than I can really describe here. I would do anything for them and feel so lucky to have two wonderful fathers in my life.

Dad is the funniest guy I have ever met, hands down (although my brother Nick is getting pretty hilarious and a close second, he's not the OG). He never fails to put a smile on my face or have some ridiculous quote that I repeat for weeks/years on end. My dad is so artistic and quick-witted, and I definitely got his great sense of humor (and modesty, clearly).

Ron put up with my crap more than any human probably should have to put up with an ADHD, bipolar child. He was always there for Nick and I, we always had a nice home to live in and plenty of rules to keep us safe. I don't think I would have made it as far in life without Ron's pestering, as much as "I hate to say it." I also don't like to admit how much I take after him, but he clearly was a huge influence (sometimes to my mother's fear and dismay ha!).

I have to mention Ben's dad Murray here too. He raised Ben and his sister alone and did an amazing job. I'm so happy to know that he is such a good man, and a great addition to my family :)

A true revelation, it seems to me, will only emerge from stubborn concentration on a solitary problem. I am not in league with inventors or adventurers, nor with travelers to exotic destinations. The surest - also the quickest - way to awake the sense of wonder in ourselves is to look intently, undeterred, at a single object. Suddenly, miraculously, it will reveal itself as something we have never seen before.

Seriously, could this Etsy store get any cuter? No. It can't. It is topped out on cute. Too much! (The designer and owner also has a human baby girl named Willow, ahhh the cuteness kills!) There are little creatures cuddling, napping, dancing...just being tiny and all around adorable. I can't wait to have more than -$5 to my name so I can purchase some of these prints.

Go visit Nut and Bee!:StoreSite**All images shown are property of Nut and Bee

Pentagram's portfolio is staggering, ranging from the signage on the New York Times building PSAs about Burma to products like watches and couches. I've pulled a few of my favorites together here. (Above Infantry poster, designed for Witness' Children at War series.)

This was a design for the newly renovated third floor of client Saks Fifth Avenue. The names of the collections/designers make up this elegant 3. I think it was an amazing way to incorporate all 49 names into an easily recognizable digit without seeming overdone.

Conundrums book. The rules: one box, two colors, and a single typeface.

The Art of Dining is an awesome interactive idea for Detroit Institute of Arts visitors. An overhead projector projects elaborate and historically accurate three course meals onto a table that visitors can "dine" around. The meals are on actual items from the museum's eighteenth century decorative arts collection. Visit the website for the full explanation and short video.